Olivia Rodrigo's "Vampire" might've been deprived of a crucial moment if she had tried to make her songwriting more "relatable."
The Grammy winner's newest track, which was released as the lead single for her sophomore album "Guts," is a scathing kiss-off to a manipulative ex.
"Vampire" is packed with painful memories and accusations, but at the end of the chorus, Rodrigo spits out a particularly memorable epithet: "Bloodsucker, fame-fucker / Bleeding me dry like a goddamn vampire."
The lyric has already become a favorite among fans and critics alike, who have described it as "canny, indelible," and "a punch to the gut." Pitchfork opined, "This is how you leave a guy for dead."
But according to Rodrigo, the best part of the couplet was momentarily on the chopping block.
"It was actually a debate whether or not 'fame-fucker' should be in the song," Rodrigo revealed during a recent appearance on Audacy's "The Julia Show."
"Some people said, 'It kind of isolates you from people, you can't really say stuff like that in songs, it's not relatable,'" she continued, "which I totally get and saw where they were coming from."
But Rodrigo decided to keep the phrase because, to her ear, it dosn't take away from the core message.
"The song isn't about 'fame-fucking' or whatever. It's more about someone being manipulative and sucking you dry, using you for all you're worth, and I think that that's a universal theme," she said.
The 20-year-old singer also explained why she decided to use "Vampire" as the introduction to her "Guts" era.
"It was a song that felt really special to me," she said. "It was always really important when I looked through all the songs we had."
She added: "It's not completely so far out of left field, when you look at 'Sour' and all the things that we did there, but I also think that it's a step forward and kind of hints at everything that's to come in the next album."
Insider previously crowned Rodrigo's debut "Sour" as the best album of 2021. "Guts" is set to drop on September 8.
